Why Barre?
Barre so Hard
So you thought it was going to be like your daughter’s ballet class. After a very rude awakening, you realize this just might be the hardest workout of your life.
And you’ve done bootcamps and crossfit. They were hard. A barfy kind of hard. This is equally hard, but so very different. Burny and shaky and sweaty. Why is this good for me?
Barre trains your body differently than other modes of exercise such as bootcamps or crossfit. When lifting weights in traditional methods, you work your muscle through its entire range of motion. Gains in strength and size are caused from small tears in the muscle repairing themselves into a slightly larger muscle. With barre, the range of motion tends to be very small, with little to no weight, and works endurance over strength and size as muscles become fatigued, they can begin to shake and burn . It is through fatiguing the muscle that improved endurance occurs. . We then stretch the muscle while it is still warm, creating long lean muscles.
So, if you want to get the most out of your next barre class, you’ll work to get in the shaky / burny zone as soon as possible. Get there faster by losing the bounce in your pulses, focusing on controlled movement rather than allowing momentum to power you through, and pushing yourself to the point of discomfort without pain. Can you go one inch lower? Another? Another?
And as barre is a beautiful fusion of 3 disciplines, I’ll call your attention to an often-overlooked part of yoga during barre class. Your breath! Breath is prana, chi, life force. Direct the prana to the muscles. Recognize that the feeling is only temporary, and that soon it will be like it never happened.